Event To Honor Troops

Carroll capsule

MOUNT AIRY — Town administrators have begun laying plans for a July 4 celebrationto honor local service people who participated in the Persian Gulf War.

The Town Council began discussing the event at its regular monthly meeting Monday night.

Tentative plans call for a 9 a.m. reception for troops and their families at the Mount Airy American Legion hall, followed by a paradeto the Firemen's Activity Center at the intersection of Route 27 andPark Avenue.

After the parade, a short program will be conducted at the activity center, with speeches by local dignitaries. Then a lunch for troops and their families is planned at the American Legion.

Plans still are in the developmental stage, and a picnic and otherafternoon activities at Watkins Park may be added to the agenda, said Mayor Gerald R. Johnson Jr.

DATELINE: MOUNT AIRY

FENCE, TREE BILLS TABLED

MOUNT AIRY -- For the second straight month, the Town Council tabled a proposed tree-preservation ordinance for 30 days, electing to wait for action on a similar state measure.

At its regular monthly meeting Monday, the council also tabled a proposed revision ofthe town's fence ordinance and asked town planners to work on eliminating confusion in the fence measure.

Town administrators discussed waiting for the results of the General Assembly's efforts to pass atree-preservation measure during the current legislation session, before passing a town tree bill that might conflict with the state version.

Also on Monday, the council announced that free seedlings will be available at Town Hall starting Monday for residents who received coupons when they turned in their Christmas tree for recycling after the holidays.

Town Hall is 2 Park Ave., just off Main Street.

SEEDLINGS AVAILABLE

WESTMINSTER -- Free seedlings for people who received coupons when they recycled their Christmas tree in January willbe available at City Hall on Friday from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.

The seedlings will be distributed from on the second floor of City Hall, 100 Longwell Ave.

They will join four-term Councilman D. Kenneth Grimeson the ballot for the May 14 election.

Three seats will be up forelection. Strine said he expects others to file before the deadline Monday.

Ecker, owner of New Windsor Hardware and former chairman of the town Planning and Zoning Commission, filed Tuesday for a secondterm on the council.

"People here have asked me to run again," said Ecker, 66. "I decided to do what they wanted."

Petry, 36, who filed Thursday, was appointed to his seat in 1989 after Councilman Albert M. Benedict resigned.

An employee of Lehigh Portland Cement Co., Petry has been council liaison with the town Recreation and Parks Commission.

He has been working with Neil Ridgely, county landscaper, on a project to improve the town ball fields. If re-elected, he said he would like to complete the work on that project.

DATELINE: NEWWINDSOR

WORKERS FEAR LAYOFFS

After receiving news of wage freezesand budgets cuts, many of the county's 830 or so employees fear a round of layoffs as the next fiscal year begins July 1.

During a session with the County Commissioners last week, representatives of someof the employees expressed concern that the budget situation -- which has forced a salary and hiring freeze -- could soon lead to layoffs.

County employees publicly are stressing that they understand theneed for the move. The wage-freeze announcement, coupled with the commissioners' pledge to avoid layoffs, cut through speculation that firings were imminent.

Earlier, the commissioners had said layoffs are not planned but are possible if the situation worsens.

The wagefreeze affects all full-time county employees, including 10 at the Humane Society and 198 with the Carroll County Public Library. It alsoincludes 142 employees split among the Carroll County Sheriff's Department, State's Attorney and Circuit Court.

Commissioner Vice President Elmer C. Lippy Jr. said he is still concerned about the effect of the wage freezes but added that the commissioners had few alternatives. The county currently pays out about $18.5 million of its $113 million budget in salaries.

911 TRAINING SEEN

Emergency dispatchersin Carroll County will soon receive training on giving instructions to 911 callers until an ambulance arrives.

At a meeting last week with the County Commissioners, Carroll County Emergency Medical Services received permission to spend money on training Carroll's 24 dispatchers.

After training, the dispatchers would have a set of questions for callers to determine how the callers could help the victim.

Cost of training would be about $5,000.

BIDDING TO BEGIN

The Carroll County Detention Center expansion project should be open to bidders no later than June, Sheriff John Brown told the commissioners.